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Good news for govt staff, salaries to rise
Siddharth Zarabi & Asit Ranjan Mishra in New Delhi
 
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October 17, 2007 08:41 IST
Last Updated: October 17, 2007 08:56 IST

The Sixth Pay Commission is likely to significantly raise basic salaries for an estimated 4.5 million central government employees.

The recommendations are expected to be submitted in January, a few months ahead of schedule, and the award is likely to come into effect from January 2006.

If salaries are revised to this extent, a central government secretary could see his or her salary go up to around Rs 75,000 - exclusive of other allowances and perks, approximately 36 per cent of current total salary (see chart).

The Fifth Pay Commission had raised salaries by around 30 per cent from January 1996 in line with previous awards. However, this was not commensurate with private sector salary increases. 
 

ANOTHER GRAVY TRAIN

Designation
(GoI & equivalent
across
services)

5th Pay
Commission
scale
(Rs/month)

Including
2004 revision
(50% hike) and
 DA at 41 %
(Rs/month)

Likely
increase
from 6th Pay
Commission*

Secretary

26000 fixed

54990

75000

Addl secretary

22400-24500

47376-51817

64512-70500

Joint secretary

18400-22400

38916-47376

52992-64512

Super time scale

12000-18300

25380-38704

34560-52704

@ Employees also get City Compensatory Allowance, Transport Allowance, or transport. HRA is at 40 % of basic pay
@ Some grades could be merged, likely pay figures after 6th Pay Commission are assumptions
* This could be the fixation as on 1 Jan 2006, DA installments due after this date (twice a year) will be in addition and calculated as a % of this basic pay.

In 2004, the government raised the basic salary by 50 per cent, but the key pay scales remained unchanged. An additional dearness allowance of 41 per cent is given on this revised basic pay.

Sources said the house rent allowance could also be increased. However, the Commission may cap the rent in grade A-plus cities � Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Sources added that along with pay increases, certain designations at lower levels of the government hierarchy may also be changed to make them more market-oriented.

It is not yet known whether the January report would be the final award or an "interim relief", which is one of the Commission's terms of reference. A government official in the know said there would not be an interim report.

When contacted, a Commission official said, "We are not seeking an extension. We will submit it on schedule."  The Sixth Pay Commission, headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, was constituted last October.

The official added a final decision had not yet been taken on making the award effective from January 2006.

The Sixth Pay Commission, headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, was constituted last October. It comprises Sushama Nath (member-secretary), Ravindra Dholakia and J S Mathur.

The Fifth Pay Commission, which submitted its report in January 1997, had resulted in the government's salary and pension burden increasing from 1.6 per cent of GDP in 1996-97 to 2.3 per cent by 1999-2000. For states, employee compensation rose from 3.8 per cent to 4.7 per cent.

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